


got any grapes?

by astralpenguin



Series: TMR Discord Anniversary [2]
Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alby Is a Good Leader, Attempt at Humor, Canon Compliant, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Dark Comedy, Ducklings - Freeform, Gen, Humor, TMR Discord Anniversary, The Glade, WICKED | WCKD is Not Good, and is really trying his best, and the horrible things you can do to them, for once i wasn't mean to winston
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22562809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralpenguin/pseuds/astralpenguin
Summary: The Gladedidhave a natural water source, but it wasn’t useful. It was just a shallow stream that ran through the back of the Deadheads. It was barely deep enough for someone to submerge their hand.So.What was with the ducklings?
Series: TMR Discord Anniversary [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624138
Comments: 23
Kudos: 30





	got any grapes?

**Author's Note:**

> it seems that i'm making it a personal tradition to post a crackfic on the tmr discord anniversary ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

The first time that the Creators sent a basket of ducklings up in the Box alongside a new Greenie, the Gladers were very confused.

The first Glader, Alby, had only been there a year, so there weren’t all that many boys there. They were just about finding their rhythm. Alby was their leader, Minho and Newt ran the Maze, Frypan cooked, Winston looked after the animals, Zart looked after the Gardens, Gally built new structures, Clint patched everybody up, and anyone else made themselves helpful wherever they could.

The main reason why they were confused about being sent ducklings was that ducks were supposed to live in bodies of water.

The Glade, obviously, had access to water, otherwise the Gladers would’ve all died of thirst a long time ago. But the water that they used came from the Homestead and the showers. The water that they used was given to them by the Creators.

The Glade _did_ have a natural water source, but it wasn’t useful. It was just a shallow stream that ran through the back of the Deadheads. It was barely deep enough for someone to submerge their hand.

So.

What was with the ducklings?

They asked the Greenie if he knew anything about the ducklings. But he was just like the rest of them. The only thing he knew was his own name, which was Ben.

So the ducklings were allowed to wander freely, and Ben began to learn how to live as a Glader. Everything was as normal as being trapped in the middle of an impossible maze could be, except now the boys had to be careful not to accidentally squash any ducklings.

Then, a week later, there was another Box delivery.

This wasn’t unusual. The Box usually sent up certain supplies every week. Things like flour, for example, that Frypan used constantly but that couldn’t be made in large enough quantities with what they had in the Glade.

But when Alby and Nick opened the Box, they were shocked to find that there weren’t any supplies inside.

Instead, there was a note.

It read:

_‘Please note that all deliveries have been halted until further notice. To resume deliveries, place all ducklings into the appliance provided, and turn the appliance on. Once we have verified that all of the ducklings have been processed, weekly deliveries will resume’_

The appliance in question was a blender.

“Nope,” said Minho. “No way in hell.”

In response to the situation, Alby had called a Gathering the moment that Minho and Newt returned from the Maze. The rest of the Gladers had waited in the meeting room for them to finish up in the map room before joining them.

There were few enough Gladers, and the situation difficult enough, that this Gathering was for everybody, not just the people with a leadership role. Ben seemed calmer than Alby had expected, seeing as his routine had already been thrown out of balance after only a week of being here. But then again, maybe that was to be expected. A week wasn’t a long time, and maybe Ben hadn’t formed any expectations yet.

Once Newt and Minho sat down, Alby didn’t waste any time before explaining what was happening as quickly and succinctly as he could.

And Minho made his displeasure known.

“We might have to,” said Frypan.

“We don’t _have_ to do anything!”

“Read out the note again?” said Winston.

Alby did so.

“Yeah,” said Winston. “I’ve managed to cut myself three times in the last week alone. I need those supplies so I don’t get infected. I vote-”

“We’re not voting yet,” said Nick, cutting Winston off. “We should discuss this more fully before making any decisions.”

“They’re _ducklings!”_ said Minho, horrified.

“Let’s go around the room,” said Alby. “This is obviously a difficult thing to consider, so everybody deserves to have their say.” He pointed at Zart.

Zart cleared his throat. “If we don’t get sent any more seeds or gardening supplies, then we’re stuck with what we’ve got. We might be able to manage for a while if I plant cuttings of things and we’re super extra careful with our supplies. But honestly? I think we need those supplies more than we can justify not blending those ducklings.”

He gestured to the boy sitting next to him, George, that he was done.

“I don’t like it,” said George. “These ducklings haven’t done anything to us. And they probably haven’t done anything to the Creators, either. The Creators are being cruel, and we shouldn’t stand for it!”

That was all George had to say, so the floor passed to Clint.

Alby noticed that Gally had brought in a pencil and a small scrap of paper, and appeared to be taking notes.

“We can’t grow or make the kind of medical supplies that we need,” said Clint. “That all gets sent up in the Box. Also, cleaning supplies, so that the food we eat doesn’t get contaminated with dirt. Sorry, but if the price of those supplies is the death of those ducklings, then the ducklings must go.”

“Yeah, like I said,” said Winston. He held up his left forearm, which was wrapped in a fresh bandage. “I did this _today,_ and yeah it’s kinda my own fault because I’m clumsy, but I’m also the only one out of all of you who can stomach killing the animals, so if I end up dying because we don’t have the supplies to fix me up when I get hurt, then you’re all screwed. You need me, and I need those supplies.”

“I like the ducklings,” said Jack. He slowly opened his hand to reveal that he’d been holding one the whole time. “I’ve named this one Mimi.”

It was Gally’s turn.

He cleared his throat loudly and looked at his notes. “I have some responses to make,” he said. “Firstly, George, you say that we shouldn’t stand for the Creators’ cruelty. What do you propose we do instead? In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re kinda trapped here. Whatever the Creators decide, we have to deal with, and yeah it sucks, but that’s life, shuckface. If you don’t have anything useful to say, then just pass next time it comes to you, okay?” He turned to Winston. “You’re right, both that we need those supplies, and that it’s a miracle you haven’t accidentally chopped off your own leg yet.” Finally, he turned to Jack, and simply said, “Mimi needs to die.”

“Uh, hi,” said Ben. “I’m new. And have no context for anything and understand nothing. I’ll go with the majority decision. All I have to say is, are we sure that what that note says is true? It might not be.”

“I hate to bring this up,” said Nick, “but you guys remember Justin, right? Who tried to climb down the Box shaft? When the Creators say that they’ll cut us off if we don’t do as we’re told, I believe them.”

“Who’s Justin?” asked Ben.

“He got sliced in half,” replied Nick.

Jack whimpered.

It was Newt’s turn. At some point during the turn taking, he’d put his head in his hands. He didn’t remove it or look up as he said, “I never thought I’d find myself recommending that we stick a bunch of ducklings in a blender, but here we bloody are.”

“I never thought that _I’d_ find myself thinking that Jack’s the only person I agree with,” said Minho, “So I guess today’s full of surprises. I can’t wait until we get out of here, I’m gonna wring the neck of whoever decided this myself.”

“Even if we could manage for food without the supplies, which we can’t,” said Frypan, “Clint mentioned cleaning supplies, and he’s absolutely right. I need to be able to clean what I cook with, or we could all get very sick. Horrible as it is to blend the ducklings, our lives are worth more than theirs.”

“The majority opinion seems to be that we do what the Creators have told us to do,” said Alby. “And I agree with that. Just in case, we’ll hold a vote. All in favour of sparing the ducklings?”

Minho and Jack put up their hands.

“And all in favour of blending the ducklings?”

Everybody else put up their hands.

“Then it’s settled.” Alby looked at Winston. “Do the ducklings congregate anywhere, or do we have a duckling hunt on our hands?”

“They’re probably mostly at the stream,” said Winston. “There might be one or two hiding, though.”

Alby nodded. “You and Zart, go collect all the ducklings from the stream. Take the basket that they came in and put them back in there.”

They nodded and left.

“The rest of you, search around the rest of the Glade. Don’t leave anywhere unchecked. If you find a duckling, take it to Winston and Zart.”

Jack trailed behind at the back of the group. Alby stopped him before he could leave.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “but could you please give me Mimi.”

Jack took a step back, clutching Mimi at his chest. “But she’s mine!” he said. “Surely the Creators won’t mind if I keep this one!”

Alby shook his head sadly. “The note specifically said that all of the ducklings needed to be blended. You might’ve gotten away with it if you hadn’t told us about her, but you did, and now the Creators know about her too. I really am sorry, but she needs to go with the rest.”

Tears in his eyes, Jack handed her over.

“You don’t have to search with the others,” said Alby. “You can just go to bed. We’ll try to make it as quick for them as possible.”

Jack nodded, his tears spilling over, and left without another word.

Alby didn’t know if Jack would ever forgive him.

The blending of the ducklings was a sombre affair.

All of the Gladers aside from Jack bore witness, and none took any pleasure in it.

When the process was complete, and the ducklings had all been blitzed into a bloody, lumpy paste, Winston took control. He unplugged the blender and removed it from the Kitchen.

(They’d had to blend the ducklings in the Kitchen because it was the only place in the entire Glade with any kind of power outlet.)

Alby decided that he didn’t want to know how Winston planned on disposing of the duckling pulp. He trusted Winston to get it done.

The blender was thoroughly cleaned, disinfected, and placed in the Kitchen.

It was completely safe to use while cooking. Frypan and Clint had seen to that themselves.

But it was never used.

It got shoved into the corner, and everyone tried to forget.

The deliveries of supplies sent by the Creators resumed the next week.

Life in the Glade carried on.

Nobody talked about the ducklings, or the horrific fate that they’d been forced to subject them to.

Then, in the Box of the sixth Greenie since Ben, Gally noticed something strange.

When he took a closer look, he was horrified at what he found.

It was a basket of ducklings.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are my lifeblood and i'm sure you have opinions about what you just read anyway XD
> 
> come say [hi!!!](https://astralpenguin.tumblr.com/)


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